Cowboys and Angels: Jimmy
by flutegirl.anita
Summary: On the Eve of Kid and Lou's wedding, the boys think about what the puny but spry rider has meant to them. This is Jimmy's story.


**A/N: **** This is the fifth in a series of stories inspired by Dustin Lynch's song, Cowboys and Angels. It takes place during Till Death Do Us Part, Part One.**

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The flames of the small campfire licked up toward the sky. There was a slight chill to the air that made Jimmy's choice of companions seem so right, when it was anything but. Rosemary Burke was just another excuse for him and Kid to fight and avoid what was really coming between them. She was cuddled beside Jimmy now like some sort of consolation prize. He thought being with her tonight would help him forget and move past what he couldn't have. He could have diffused the fight with Kid. Kid could have diffused it too, but neither of them wanted to. They were busy dancing around the same thing they always danced around, Lou. The bruises on his face and the sadness in his eyes told his life story -the one where he disappointed his friends with his rash actions and kept his true feelings buried.

Jimmy could have sworn it was just yesterday that he found Lou sitting atop the corral fence in Sweetwater watching a mare and her foal play. She asked him then if he ever thought he could make something so beautiful, meaning a family. Jimmy didn't know if he ever could, but he was dead certain Lou would. It was what she deserved more than anything. Everything Lou did was for family. She created one wherever she was. She couldn't help herself. Sometimes it seemed to him like Lou built a family just so she could push them away, although, more often than not Jimmy was the one pushing Lou away and not the other way around. Rosemary started to caress his bare chest and Jimmy grimaced. She wasn't Lou, but she was soft, warm, and willing.

Jimmy sometimes wondered what might have happened between Lou and him if he had ever told her about his feelings for her. Would she have told him the same? Jimmy thought she would. Maybe it was arrogant of him to think so, but sometimes the look in her eyes mirrored his own. They just never acted on it. It was easy for Jimmy to remember the reasons why. When Hopkins snatched Lou from him in Willow Creek, he knew he would only bring Lou trouble. He loved her too much to ever let anyone hurt her. Jimmy had a talent for attracting trouble especially when he wasn't looking for it. He let Elias Mills get to him too. The man had regrets and could see the same ones in Jimmy's eyes. Elias pushed him and Lou together, but that interrupted kiss would be the closest he would ever come to telling Lou the truth. Elias's violent death was same kind of death that awaited Jimmy and anyone that got close to him. It was something he couldn't outdraw or outrun.

Kid loved Lou and she loved him back. That was the inescapable truth that Jimmy knew in his heart. It superseded anything Lou felt for him. That was the biggest reason that he never threw his hat in the ring for Lou's affections. She got plenty frustrated with the Kid, but she always went back to him and Jimmy knew she always would. It wouldn't matter if Jimmy confessed his feelings to Lou even if she felt the same way. She would go back to Kid in the end anyway. Kid was better for her. Kid would protect her. Lou knew it too. Jimmy was sure that's why she asked him to give her away at the wedding. It was a definitive end to whatever temptation was between them. Jimmy had to admit it was pretty classic Lou. They never talked about their feelings and this was her way of saying they never would. A part of Jimmy wondered though, if she got cold feet, was he there because she might want him to steal her away?

Jimmy started to twirl a strand of Rosemary's hair around his finger. No, he didn't want to be Lou's back up plan. He needed to put her out of his mind and move on. Jimmy looked down to see Rosemary looking back at him. The lustful look in her eyes told him he was welcome to lose himself in her arms. Jimmy rolled into her embrace. He would make it to the church in time to give Lou away forever, but tonight he would not think of her. Tonight he would lose himself in another.

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**A/N Thank you Jenna for looking this over...even though you threw up a little in your mouth and it made your skin crawl.**


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